Who We Are

Buddy System MIA was founded in response to the unprecedented needs of our Miami community during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a team of passionate local volunteers dedicated to eradicating food insecurity in our community. We have since turned a small mutual-aid program into a diverse county-wide nonprofit serving over 5,000 people with access to free, healthy food. The initial distributions began with compassion and determination to share during isolation, and that ethos has carried us into 10 Community Fridges, a robust volunteer-client pairing Homebound Food Access Program, three monthly food distributions supporting vulnerable populations and a food pantry that acts as an emergency food resource.

Our mission is to empower neighbors to support neighbors, beginning with access to healthy food and expanding to the larger more nuanced needs of individuals in the community. We see a world where community members come together to uplift each other and collaborate to create viable support for long-term change.

As artists, we are all inspired to create outside the box to foster health, safety and equity in our community. Our organization has a unique voice filled with innovative programs that allow us to go beyond traditional food distributions and place people first.